“No,” Archie replied. “In fact, we probably know less. None of the octospiders who spent time at the Node is still , part of our colony. As I told you, that octospider contingent on Rama II was a different, inferior species. The only firsthand information about the Node that exists on board this spacecraft comes from you, your family, and whatever
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compressed data may reside inside that small volume of sessile material we are still keeping in our zoo.”
“And that’s it?” Richard said. “None of you asks any more questions?”
“We are trained as juveniles,” Archie answered, “not to waste time on issues for which we are unable to obtain any significant data.”
Richard was momentarily silent. “How do you know so much about the avians and the sessiles?” he then asked abruptly.
“I’m sorry, Richard,” Archie said after a brief pause, “but I cannot talk with you about that subject now. My assignment for this lunch period, as you surmised, is to ascertain whether or not you would be pleased to accept an engineering assignment in the Embryo Bank and, if so, which of the many areas you have seen today seems most interesting to you.”
“It’s a hell of a commute,” Richard said, laughing. “Yes, Archie,” he then added, “everything is fascinating, especially what I call the encyclopedia department. I think I would like to work there—that way I could expand my meager knowledge of biology. But why are you asking me this question now? Aren’t we going to have more ‘demonstrations’ after lunch?”
“Yes,” Archie said. “But this afternoon’s schedule has been included primarily for completeness. Almost half of the Embryo Bank is devoted to microbiology. Management of that activity is more complex and involves communication with the midget morphs. It is difficult for us to imagine your working in any of those departments.”
Underneath the primary microbiological laboratory was a basement that could only be entered with special credentials. When Archie mentioned that large quantities of flying image quadroids were produced in that Embryo Bank basement, Richard virtually begged to observe the process. His official tour was halted and Richard stood idlv around for several fengs while Archie obtained permission for them to visit the quadroid “nursery.”
Two other octospiders guided them down a sequence of long ramps to the subterranean area. “The nursery has been purposely built far below ground level,” Archie told Richard, “for extra isolation and protection. We have three other similar facilities scattered around our domain.”
Holy shit, Richard said to himself when he and his three octospider companions walked out on a platform overlooking a large rectangular floor. His recognition was instant. Several meters below them, about a hundred midget morphs were scattered around the facility, performing unknown functions. Hanging down from the ceiling were eight rectangular lattices, each about five meters long and two meters wide, that were symmetrically placed around the room. Directly underneath each of the lattices was a large oval object with a hardened exterior. These eight objects resembled huge nuts and were surrounded by thick viny growths or webbing.
“I have seen a similar layout before, many years ago,” Richard said excitedly. “Underneath New York. It was just before my first personal encounter with one of your cousins. Nicole and I were both scared out of our wits.”
“I think I read something about that incident,” Archie replied. “Prior to our bringing Ellie and Eponine to the Emerald City, I studied all the old files on your species. Some of the data were compressed, so there were not many specifics—”
“I remember that incident as if it were yesterday,” Richard interrupted. “I had placed a couple of miniature robots on a small subway and they had disappeared into a tunnel. They came into an area like this one and, after climbing through some of that webbing, were chased and captured by one of your cousins.”
“Doubtless the robots had stumbled into a quadroid nursery. Those octos acted to protect it. It’s really very simple.” Archie signaled their guide engineer that it was time for his explanation.
“The quadroid queens spend their gestation periods in special compartments that are just off the main floor,” the octo engineer said. “Each queen lays thousands of eggs. When
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several million eggs have been laid, they are collected together and placed in one of those oval containers. The inside of the containers is maintained at a very high temperature, which markedly reduces the development time of the quadroids. The thick webbing around the containers absorbs the excess heat so that the working conditions are acceptable for the midget morphs who oversee the nursery. …”
Richard was partially listening, but his real focus was on a moment many years earlier. Now it is all clear, he said to himself. And that tiny subway was for the midget morphs.
“. . . monitoring probes inside the containers identify exactly when the quadroids are ready to swarm. The lattices above are soaked with the proper chemical agents a few fengs prior to the automatic opening of the ovals. The new queens fly first, attracted to the lattice elements. The frenzied hordes of males follow, making visible black clouds despite their minuscule size. The quadroids are harvested from the lattice and go immediately into mass training.”
“Very elegant,” Richard said. “But I have a simple question. Why do the quadroids take all those pictures for you?”
“The short answer,” Archie replied, “is that they have been genetically engineered over thousands of years to be receptive to our direction. We—or rather our midget morph specialists—speak the chemical language the quadroids use to communicate with each other. If they do what is asked of them, the quadroids are given food. If they perform satisfactorily over a long period of time, they are allowed the pleasures of sex.”
“Out of a given litter, or swarm, what percentage of the quadroids follow your directions?”
‘The failure rate for first picture is about ten percent,” the octospider engineer answered. “Once the pattern has been established and the reward cycle reinforced, the failure rate drops dramatically.”
“Pretty damn impressive,” Richard said appreciatively. “Maybe there’s more to this biology stuff than I ever consid-. ered.”
On the ride back to the Emerald City, Richard and Archie discussed the comparative strengths and weaknesses of biological and nonbiological engineering systems. It was mostly an esoteric, philosophical conversation with few definitive conclusions. They did agree, however, that the encyclopedia function, which was primarily the storage, manipulation, and presentation of vast amounts of information, was more optimally handled by nonbiological systems.
As they drew near to the domed city, the green glow was suddenly extinguished. Night had come again to the center of the octospider domain. Soon thereafter, an additional pair of fireflies appeared to give their ostrichsaur extra light.
It had been a long day and Richard was tired. When they entered the outskirts of the Alternate Domain, Richard thought he saw something flying in the darkness off to his right. “What has happened to Tammy and Timmy?” he asked.
“They have both mated,” Archie replied, “and have several offspring. Their young hatchlings are cared for in the zoo.”
“Could I see them?” Richard said. “You told me once, a few months ago, that someday it might be possible.”
“I guess so,” Archie replied after a short silence. “Even though the zoo is a restricted zone, the avian compound is
• very close to the entrance.”
When they reached the first large structure of the
• Alternate Domain, Archie dismounted and went inside the building. When he returned, the octospider said something
• to the ostrichsaur. “We are only cleared for a brief visit,” Archie said as their mount turned off the main path and ^ began to thread its way through the smaller lanes of the community.
Richard was introduced to the zookeeper, who drove them in a cart to a compound only about a hundred meters inside the zoo entrance. Both Tammy and Timmy were | present. They recognized Richard immediately, and their | jabbers and shrieks of pleasure filled the darkened skies. Tammy and Timmy introduced Richard to a new group of
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avian hatchlings in the compound. The juveniles were very shy around Richard, and would not let him touch them. However, Tammy and Timmy still loved to have their soft underbellies stroked by the man who had raised them from infancy. Richard felt powerful emotions as he recalled the days when he had been their sole protector in the lair underneath New York. ‘
He said good-bye to his wards and boarded the cart with Archie and the zookeeper. Halfway back to the zoo entrance he heard a sound that jolted him into alertness and made his skin crawl with goose bumps. He sat perfectly still and concentrated. The sound repeated just before the silent cart came to a stop.